Cardiovascular risk in patients with bipolar disorder.
BACKGROUND
To date, little is known about cardiovascular risk (CVR) in terms of coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular mortality risk (CMR) in patients with bipolar disorder. This study provides data on the overall risk of any fatal or non-fatal coronary heart disease (CHD) and on the cardiovascular mortality risk (CMR) within 10 years in these patients.


METHODS
Naturalistic, cross-sectional, multicenter study conducted in Spain. Patients were evaluated for cardiovascular risk using the Framinghan function (CHD) and the Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) function (CMR).


RESULTS
The mean age was 46.6 years and 49% were male. Forty-six percent were in remission. Ten-year CHD risk was 7.6% (males 10.2% versus females 4.7%, p<0.001) and 10-year CMR was 1.8% (males 2.2% versus females 1.3%, p 0.161). Fifty-one percent smoked and 34% was obese. Metabolic syndrome was present in 22.4% of the sample (35.6% according to AHA and NHLBI criteria). Cardiovascular risk significantly increases with age, body mass index and presence of metabolic syndrome.


CONCLUSIONS
The cross-sectional design of the study.


CONCLUSIONS
Cardiovascular risk is high in patients with bipolar disorder. It is associated with age, body mass index and metabolic syndrome. Psychiatrists should be aware of this issue and carefully monitor these patients for cardiovascular risk factors, including cigarette smoking, as part of the standard of care when treating them.
Garcia-Portilla
Maria P
MP
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oviedo, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Spain. albert@uniovi.es
Saiz
Pilar A
PA
Bascaran
Maria T
MT
Martínez A
Sara
S
Benabarre
Antonio
A
Sierra
Pilar
P
Torres
Pedro
P
Montes
Jose Manuel
JM
Bousoño
Manuel
M
Bobes
Julio
J
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors